I started the Martin Bike Co-op and Repair in a detached garage 5 months ago. Martin is a small town with a population of 10,000 residents, and has the University of Tennessee at Martin with a student population of 8,000 students. The Co-op is a hybrid concept run out of my garage as both a bike repair shop and a bike co-op. So far, the bike repair business has been about 80% of the work. The population here is just not large enough to support a free standing bike co-op.
My bike co-op is fairly well equipped with bike tools I accumulated before moving to Martin last Sept. My bike shop is the only bike repair service in town, and so I have had a good volume of bike repairs this past spring. I am a community partner with the UTM campus Institute for Civic Engagement, and the GEARS (Green Energy and Renewables Society). GEARS is interested in getting a bike share program started on campus, and I will support them in any way I can to get that started. UT at Knoxville has started a bike share program and they have some electric assist bikes in their fleet of bikes.
I am a do it all sort of Co-op/Bike Shop..I do repairs, community programs, organize bike rides, work with UTM faculty and students on any bike issues, repair bikes for the UTM campus police, ride in parades..anything bike related I do. I get bikes donated from the UTM Recycling program and I buy low cost bikes for parts to use on department store bike repairs. The only place in town to buy a new bike is at WalMart, and I am the only place in town to do repairs to bikes. I do get some higher end bikes to repair from UTM faculty that go out of town to buy a new bike.
The area is one of the poorer areas in the U.S. It is not the poorest, as that would be further south of us. So my market is focused on the lower cost bikes and used bikes, although there are a good number of people riding hybrid bikes that they purchased out of town at a bike shop about 60 miles away.
I would be interested in attending any gatherings of Bike Co-op folks in the mid-south, if there are any.
Currently I buy my new bike parts and supplies from a bike shop 60 miles away. I am wondering if there are any online bike parts dealers that sell to Bike co-ops. I don't buy enough to be able to use QBP or any of the other larger wholesalers.
Thanks.
Ken Leibold
Martin, TN, Small Town USA.
On the web at: www.BikeBarn.biz
